


calling moon and moon

by kimaracretak



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-12
Updated: 2015-07-12
Packaged: 2018-04-09 00:10:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4326207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimaracretak/pseuds/kimaracretak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>things you said with too many miles between us</em>: Stargates are excellent inventions. Except for the part where they make private conversations impossible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	calling moon and moon

There are many advantages to stargates, and over the years since she joined the program, and then the Atlantis expedition, Elizabeth has learned most of them. Knowledge, travel opportunities, evacuation routes . . . she wouldn't trade them for anything.

The one thing the gates don't offer is _privacy_. She doesn't usually notice, or mind when she does, because off-world teams rarely have anything private to say in their status reports and the occasions when they do and can't come through in person are rarer still.

But tonight she minds. Tonight Teyla is stuck off-world, mired in a seemingly endless series of trade negotiations that are now on their fifth night, and Elizabeth can't even tell her she misses her without revealing their relationship to John, Rodney, Ronon, and twelve other expedition members who are hanging around the control room.

She's trying very, very hard to keep her voice professional when she asks for the third day in a row, “And they're still not moving on issue of medical supplies?”

“Nope.” John's trying for cheerful snark, she can tell, but he's landed firmly in boredom territory instead. “These people redefine stubborn, Elizabeth. And I've worked with McKay for three years.”

“Shockingly enough, I agree.” McKay. “Except, of course, with the Colonel instead of –”

Elizabeth pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs. “Yes, yes, I get it.” McKay, of course, has no such qualms about professionalism when there's an alternate choice that involves whining. “Teyla, do you think it would help if I came over tomorrow?” _I miss you. I want to see you._ It can't possibly be worse than anything she's sat through at the U.N.

“I am not sure,” Teyla says, and despite her less than enthusiastic words, Elizabeth smiles just to hear her voice for the first time on this call. “At least they are used to us now. I fear that if you did come you would spend all your time playing referee to John and Rodney.”

Elizabeth can feel her smile widen even as she pushes aside a faint twinge of disappointment. “So . . . exactly what I send them off-world to avoid having to do?”

Teyla laughs delightedly, drowning out John and Rodney's simultaneous and mortally-offended “ _hey!_ ”. Elizabeth is never, ever going to get tired of hearing that laugh. “Really, though,” Teyla says when she's recovered, “we can probably finalize the protection for food supplies portion of the treaty in the morning session tomorrow. But I fear if we do not make progress on the medical issues that is where the treaty will end.”

“Maybe we should reconsider,” John suggests. “I know they're asking for a lot, but if we could convince them to settle for, say, a quarter now and the rest after the _Daedalus_ makes its next supply run, maybe we could move on to having an actual conversation again.”

“I don't like that.” Ronon's taken the words right from her mouth.

Rodney makes a disgruntled noise. “Why not? At least then we could get off this planet. Not that everyone's not perfectly civil, but their mosquitoes are not. And they like me more than any of the people do, which is really not fair. . . .”

Elizabeth tunes him out, drifts over to sit on the stairs leading down to the gateroom. It would be rude to laugh at him where other people could hear. At least if she's down here no one can see her smirking at him. Ronon and John have started arguing with McKay, and Elizabeth experimentally flicks her radio over to a private channel. “Teyla?”

“Yes, Elizabeth?” Her voice is quiet, though Elizabeth suspects the boys are too busy squabbling amongst themselves to pay any any attention to her.

“Have they been like this all week?”

“Worse,” Teyla says wryly. “In truth, I would not mind if you did join us. This world is beautiful, regardless of the mosquitoes.”

Elizabeth hums quietly and rests her head against the wall, wishing she had Teyla's warm shoulder to lean against instead. “I don't know. Anything that annoys Rodney that much has at least some respect from me.”

Teyla's laugh is muffled this time. “Very true. And the village is next to a beautiful ocean. Though not as beautiful as,” she hesitates. _Not as beautiful as you_ , Elizabeth thinks she might have said if they were alone. “Not as beautiful as that lake we found on the mainland last month,” she says instead.

“Oh,” Elizabeth says, because there is nothing else she _can_ say about that day anywhere they could be overheard. She and Teyla had had a rare few hours free after a meeting with Halling, and Teyla had taken her exploring. When they found the lake, complete with tiny waves and something resembling a beach, they decided to stop. The time they spent on the shore making out like a couple of teenagers was the most fun Elizabeth had had in what felt like years. “We should go back there, when we have the chance.”

“I'd like that.” Her voice is low and soft and the smile that Elizabeth can hear in it sends a shiver through her. She wonders, briefly, about the merits of sending teams out with video transmitters, instead of just radios. Surely there's a non-selfish way she could spin that to the IOA.

“Aha! I told you Teyla would agree with me!” Rodney crows somewhere in the background. So much for their brief moment.

Teyla sighs. “Surprisingly enough, Rodney, not every conversation is about you. Elizabeth and I were trying to get actual work done.”

The lie comes easy, and even from the distance Elizabeth can tell Rodney is slightly abashed when he says, “Oh.” There's a rustling sound as he moves away again, but her isolated bubble with Teyla has been well broken. Time to get back to work, for real.

She lets herself have one more moment on the private channel with Teyla, though. “Come home soon,” she says softly, trying to put as much emotion as she can into the three words. This is still hard for her, after so many years of building walls of bland diplomatic phrases around herself.

“I promise,” Teyla says, and there's so much warmth and understanding in her words that Elizabeth nearly hits herself in the head switching her radio back to the main team channel before she's tempted to reply _I love you._ The sooner they can settle on a strategy for the last round of negotiations, the sooner she can get Teyla back.


End file.
